Istanbul: What a Charming Chaos

I was in Istanbul a few months ago! I hate flying, I hate traveling and I don't like spending money but I am so glad I visited. It's a place you must see before you die, just like New York or Barcelona.

Istanbul is a rich city, it has history, it has a population of 20 million people, it is a bridge between Asia and Europe. You will see street children begging for money, you will see women with their Louis Vuitton bags ignoring these children. With your bare eyes - you will see Asia from Europe and Europe from Asia. You will see women with veils and women with tank tops, you will see Hagia Sophia-a mosque/church/museum. You will learn the real meaning of postmodern in Istanbul.

European, Asian and Middle Eastern; it has a population of almost twenty million people!

I made all the reservations through Expedia.com and we flew with KLM. I hate flying but this trip went better than I thought. You can also fly direct from New York or Chicago to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines or Delta. The airport of Istanbul is modern, nice and easy to figure out. If you are on a budget, taking a taxi from the airport is not a good idea, take the shuttle or use the public transportation. Ask people for directions, they try hard to help. Even if they don't speak English, they will find a way to help you.

We had a Jet Lag so we did not want to sleep all night. On our first night, we went to the Istiklal Avenue in Beyoglu/Taksim. It was very lively, what a big crowd of people in the middle of the night! Thousands of people were on the streets, still eating out, walking or rushing to the clubs in the area.

I had two burgers at the Marmara Bufe- this is the first time I had two burgers at once in my life. They were so delicious!!! I wouldn't mind going back to Istanbul just to have a burger at the Marmara Bufe. We went to Babylon Club after we ate our burgers. It is said to be one of the best places to listen to the world music. Babylon was great and the music "what ever it was" was also great. The only bad thing about Babylon Club is that "It is expensive". I think Istanbul clubs are generally expensive, I guess only rich people go out at nights in Istanbul. Make sure you have a few drinks before you go to a club in Istanbul, even beer costs more than $6. In the grocery stores, beer costs less than $ 1. Try the Efes Beer, I think it is quite good.

The prices in Istanbul are generally expensive so you need to watch out. It is not as expensive as London but it is like New York City. The good thing about it is, just like New York City, there are cheap options. You can have a dinner and be quite happy with it for less than $5 where as you can also eat a steak for $100. I obviously preferred the cheaper options. Istanbul street food is great and I never had any problems with it. Don't come back from Istanbul without trying kokorec sandwich and fried muscle sandwich from the Sampiyon Bufe in Beyoglu Nevizade. They drink ayran (a yogurt drink) with it but I preferred diet coke as usual.

People have been living in Istanbul since BC 6000 so obviously the city has history that needs a lot of attention and time. But because we had too much to drink a night before, we preferred to have a long breakfast by the Bosphorus and skip the history. I am glad we did what we did. It was a great day and seeing the Asian side of Istanbul from the European side was amazing. There is only a river (Bosphorus) in between; it connects the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea. The Marmara Sea is connected to Agean Sea and Mediterranean. We watched ships pass by slowly as we had our four hour breakfast.

This was my first day in Istanbul, you will hear of the rest of it soon.